Anna Morgan
by DayDreamer7
Summary: Anna Morgan moves back to London from America in Harry and the gang's 5th year. Anna is so happy that she made friends with Harry, but can she really trust him. When it comes to the secrets Anna has, can she trust anyone?
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One

Chapter One

_A_

s Anna put the last few things into her trunk, she pushed a curly brown lock of hair out of her face and thoughtfully glanced around her room.It was so bare and empty.She didn't want to move; it was her mother's idea.She could hear Ms. Morgan's voice in her head now: "It's the best thing for us, Anna, sweetie.I know you don't want to go back to London, but it's where we belong.We can't keep running, especially not in America.We have to go back to London."Her mother had certainly been right about one thing: America definitely hadn't agreed with them.Anna's brother Xavier, only 17, two years older than she, had run off with some American death eaters and changed his name back to "Riddle."Anna never wanted to follow in her father's footsteps, and she knew they had to leave.But why back to London, of all places?London is where this whole mess started.Why not Canada?Or Australia? 

She closed her trunk and floated it into the air.Pushing it down the hall she stopped in front of Xavier's old room.It too was empty.She closed her eyes and imagined that he was sitting at his desk and writing his wonderful poetry.It had only been a month since he left.That was the last straw for her mother, and Anna hated Xavier for that.Still, she couldn't help but miss him.

She kept walking and pushed her trunk down the stairs to the living room where a roaring fire was going, even in the heat of August.Anna glanced at the mantle.On it sat the jar of Floo Powder.She knew that when she walked through those flames her whole life would change.She wished the fire could somehow burn her past; burn her name.That was one of the many things Anna loved about America.No one knew her past.Once in London, though, she would have to face that past all over again.Morgan, her mother's maiden name, could no longer hide the truth.

"Anna?" Danielle Morgan called, bringing her daughter back down to Earth.

"Yeah?" Anna yelled back, rather reluctantly. 

"Are you ready yet, hun?"

"Yes, Mom," Anna replied, in the American accent she'd come to 

acquire in the past seven or eight years of living there. She walked over to her mother's room and leaned up against the door frame. Her mother was wearing her jeans and only a bra and still packing some last minute things.Everything big, like furniture, had already been sent ahead to London for when they found a place to live.Her mom's auburn hair was falling out of the high ponytail it was in. Anna smiled, thinking of how much she loved her mother."Ya know, Mom," she started playfully, "school over seas starts in two days, and I don't think I'd make a good impression with the head master if I didn't show up on my first day."

"Quit worrying, Anna-Banana!You'll be there, you'll be there!" 

Her mom's use of her baby name made her smile. Not to mention the London accent she still had to make it sound even sweeter. 

"Ok—finished," said Danielle as she shut and locked her trunk.She dragged it out in front of the fireplace and grabbed the Floo Powder.As the flames turned emerald Danielle laughed."Diagon Alley, here we come!" 

* * *

As they burst through the fire in the Leaky Cauldron, everyone in the little British pub turned and glared at them.

Anna gulped.She remembered that glare from almost eight years ago as she, Xavier, and their mother walked down the streets in Hogsmeade when Anna was only seven years old.It was the look of so many mixed, yet suppressed feelings; feelings of anger and hate, but mostly of fear.She despised that look even more now since she could fully understand it.Most people were scared of their little three-some, because they thought one wrong move would get them Avada Kedavra-ed into nothingness.Some were angry because they thought the "Morgans" belonged in Azkaban.No matter what the people thought, Anna and her family were always hated.In America that all changed.That's why she couldn't understand why her mother wanted to come back.

Anna's mother got the key from Tom, the bar tender, and they trudged up the narrow staircase.The pub, which had remained silent while they were in it, suddenly broke into very loud conversation.

Once in their room Anna put her trunk on her bed and stared out the window down onto Diagon Alley.Great, Anna thought, more people to sneer at me and hate me.If I could have one friend.Just one… 

Suddenly a boy in the streets stopped, shopping bags on the ground, and stared straight at Anna.He winced, rubbed his forehead, picked up his bags, and hurried away.

Anna thought this very strange at first.On a second thought, however, she recognized the boy.His messy black hair, his round framed glasses—he was none other then Harry Potter, the boy she dreamt about almost every night.She knew so much about him, yet almost nothing at all.One thing she did know was the one day they had in common: July thirty-first, their birthday.

Anna then noticed another boy staring up at her window.This boy she did not recognize.He looked to be about her age; his silver blond hair shone in the hot, late August sun.A smile, half out of delight, half of horror, played across his face.He winked up at Anna and then strode away down the cobble-stoned street.She wondered what it was that was getting her all this attention.She walked across the room to the vanity.

"Oh no!" Anna gasped.Her eyes were glowing a bright, murderous red.She rubbed them frantically."Go away, go away, go away!" she urged through clenched teeth.She looked in the mirror again."Damnit! Why is this happening to me?"

"Anna, hunny?" her mother called from the bathroom."Are you okay?" 

"Uh…" Anna began.She forced herself to look into the mirror one last time.Finally, she thought.Her eyes had turned back to their normal emerald color."Nothing, Mom, I'm fine."

"Okay," her mother replied.

Anna walked to the window and, without looking at Diagon Alley, pulled the curtains shut.

If she had looked out her window she would have seen the hooded man that was now staring at her window from the street.


	2. Default Chapter

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

_A_

nna didn't sleep very well that night.She dreamt again of Harry Potter.Only this time he was accompanied by two others: a girl with bushy, brown hair, and rather large front teeth and a tall, skinny boy with hair the color of flames.The boy with the silver blond hair stood off to the side, devilishly smirking.He had soft, but cold gray eyes, but they only reflected the redness of Anna's.Suddenly she turned her back to him only to face a dark, hooded figure.Its face wasn't visible, just its glowing red eyes.As the figure came closer Anna shivered and tried to run away.She ran towards Harry Potter yelling, "Run, Harry Potter, run! You won't be so lucky this time! Run!"She only had time to see Harry double over with pain, clutching his forehead, before she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.She again turned to face the dark figure.Its eyes were still glowing a deathly red.It began to lower its hood—

"NO!" Anna yelled, waking up in a cold sweat, heart racing.She sighed, thankful it was a dream, and glanced at her sleeping mother in the next bed.Good thing she's a heavy sleeper, Anna thought.She had no intentions of telling her mother about her dreams, or anything at all for that matter.

Anna laid back down and had much welcomed dreamless sleep the rest of the night.

The next morning Danielle woke Anna up around 10:30 to go school supply shopping. There were tons of supplies Anna needed and only this one day to get them all, since school started on the next. Anna was very reluctant to walk through Diagon Alley. What if she saw Harry Potter or the silver-blond headed kid? What if her eyes became red again? She couldn't go out there. She couldn't risk it all like that. If that happened then everyone would know, without a shadow of a doubt. 

Anna, being the quick-witted and powerful witch that she was, put a charm on herself that would make her sick for as long as she needed.

"Mom…" Anna said very congestedly.

"Oh, hunny, you don't sound good at all!" shrieked Danielle. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine," replied Anna, getting more and more stuffy with every word. "I can't wait to go buy all my books and robes and…" she trailed off as she began getting out of bed, but Danielle pushed her right back down. 

"Oh, no you don't! You're not going anywhere, young lady. You sound absolutely terrible! I'll just have to do the shopping for you." She tapped Anna's nose gently.

"But—" Anna started, trying to get back up, but her mother cut her off.

"But nothing. You're to stay right here in bed and feel better—"

"UH! —"

"AND, if you feel better when I come back, I'll take you to Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream. Okay?"

"Alright, alright," sighed Anna, deciding this was the perfect place to give in.As her mother gathered the list and locked the door behind her, Anna sang a little song of triumph under her breath. She waited a few minutes to make sure her mother was gone, threw back the sheets, and pranced over to the mirror. "You're a wonderful actress, darling. Simply wonderful!" she cooed to herself in her best Hollywood voice.

Anna went over the window, held her breath and pulled open the curtains. She exhaled, relieved, when she saw that no one was gazing up at her. She opened her trunk and rummaged through it. "Ah… here it is." She let the smooth, silky, silver material of her invisibility cloak run through her fingers.Memories of her brother flooded her mind. She remembered so clearly what he'd said to her the day that he left.

"Here, Anna," he'd said. "Take this, but don't let Mom find out you've got it." He too, she remembered, had lost his British accent. "I don't want her to bitch at you 'cause of me.Plus, I don't want her to take it. If you decide to join me, use this. You'll be able to find me; it's family instinct," he finished, placing his hand over his heart and winking at her. With that he kissed her on the cheek, hugged her, and slipped out of his bedroom window and into the darkness of the night.Anna stood there, staring at his open window, and the curtains blowing in the hot July breeze. She fell to the floor, crying harder than she ever had in her whole life. She glanced at the clock. 3:33 am. That just made her cry even harder. Her and Xavier's special number had always been three. Once she'd stopped her sobs, she let the material of the cloak flow over her hands. She'd been so grateful for Xavier's gift, and still was. However, she decided at that very time that she would use the cloak for everything except what Xavier had suggested.

Coming back to reality she realized she was crying. She glanced at herself in the mirror. "Stop it," she hissed, harshly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She grabbed her sack of wizard money, her wand, threw the cloak over her shoulders, and slammed the door shut behind her. 

The pub was almost empty, except for a very large man with a scraggly beard who was trying to sit on a small barstool and failing terribly. He seemed to be having a very vivid conversation with Tom, but Anna couldn't understand a word of it because of the man's heavy Scottish accent. 

Walking around the corner, Anna came face to face with a very familiar brick wall. "Up three, over two…" she tapped her wand on the final brick and the wall vanished. As Anna walked through, she had just enough time to turn back and see the huge archway closing behind her. "So… Diagon Alley. We meet again."

Being invisible, there wasn't much she could do; but then again… the possibilities seemed endless.First, however, she went to the spot where she had seen Harry Potter the day before.None of the people from her dream where anywhere to be seen. She looked up at her own window, wondering how much of her face they had been able to see and how much detail.Not much, she hoped. What a way to start the new term, with Harry Potter walking up to her and saying "Oh, didn't I see your eyes glowing red like Lord Voldemort's two days ago?" Anna didn't think she could handle that. 

She began walking up and down the streets. She glimpsed her mother a couple times; once in Madam Malkin's buying robes for herself, and again in Flourish and Blotts just looking around. After Anna looked around a bit in Dervish and Bangs and looked at the ice cream flavors at Florean Fortescue's, she headed back to the hotel room. Just in time, too. As she was heading back to the archway she saw her mother heading in the same direction. Anna quickly snapped her fingers and apparated to the hotel room. She knew she couldn't make it before her mother any other way. Most people can't apparate until they are well out of school, and Anna knew this, her mother had told her several times. Because of her, um, family history, she could at only 6 years old. Same with Xavier. 

Once in the hotel room, Anna quickly tucked the cloak back into the bottom of her trunk and hopped into bed pretending to be asleep. About a minute later, her mother opened the door. Crap, Anna thought, I forgot to lock the door back. Oh, I hope she doesn't notice. Luckily, she didn't.

"Anna…" said Danielle in a sing-songy voice. "Wake up, sweets."

"Huh?" Anna said, rubbing her eyes as her mom said down on the edge of her bed. 

"Are you feeling any better?" Danielle reached forward to feel her daughter's head. "You look better, that's for sure." She got up and walked over to a pile of shopping bags. Anna noticed her mother's new robes. They were bright blue. "I got all your supplies. Here, come try these on." She pulled black robes out of a Madam Malkin's bag. "I told her your name and your age and she said these should do just fine." They were long and sleek, with very wide sleeves and a silver emblem on the left side of the collar, which Anna assumed was the Hogwarts emblem. 

"How could she tell what size I wore just by what you told her?" Anna asked, now getting out of bed. 

"Oh, I don't know," replied Danielle, kind of absentmindedly. "She said she just knew.Here, slip this on over your nightclothes." She handed Anna the robes.

Anna pulled them on over her head and was very surprised that they fit perfectly.

"I suppose she was right!" said Danielle, clasping her hands together and resting her chin on her fingertips.

"Yeah," Anna said, smoothing down the black material, "I suppose so."

"Also on your list were dress robes. I wasn't sure what you'd like so I got two and figured you could take both and just decide whenever you needed them." Danielle pulled two robes out of the bag and gave them to Anna. The first was silver and reminded Anna of her invisibility cloak, only it was darker and more glittery. It was very elegant, with a high collar and belled sleeves.The next was a deep royal purple with little frills around the hems, the collar, and the bottoms of the sleeves. 

"I hope we need dress robes twice in the year so that I can wear them both. I don't think I could decide which one I like more." Anna folded them nicely and laid them down on the end of her bed.

"This wasn't on your list," Danielle said, pulling a dome shaped object with a black sheet over it out from behind one of the taller bags, "but I knew it would come in handy." 

"What is it?" Anna asked curiously.

"Take it," Danielle said, pushing it into her daughter's hands. "See for yourself." 

Anna took the object and sat down on the end of the bed with it.She pulled the black sheet off to reveal a beautiful snowy owl sleeping inside a large brass cage. "Oh, wow!" gasped Anna. 

"I knew you'd like her," said Danielle, smiling.

"Oh, more than you know!" Anna squealed, jumping up to hug her mom. "What's her name?"

"That I thought I'd leave up to you. Oh, and here's the food," Danielle said, pulling a sack out of the inside pocket of her robes. Anna reached up to grab the bag but Danielle snatched it away playfully. "Uh, uh, uh! You only get to keep her on _one_ condition."

"Oh? What's that?" Anna asked, mimicking her mother's accent, her old one.

"You can keep her as long as she is flying back to me twice a week with an update on how things are going."

"Oh, she will, I promise!"

"Alright, then," Danielle laughed, kissing her daughter lightly on the nose."Now, get up and start putting these things into your trunk. It's nearly two o' clock. After you do that, get dressed and we'll go have that ice cream I promised. You can wear one of my new robes."

"Okay," said Anna, as she moved all the shopping bags over to her trunk. She loaded her new robes, books, inks, quills, cauldron, scales, and spices into her trunk, careful to hide her invisibility cloak. 

She changed into a dark teal robe, and she and her mother trudged down the stairs and into the little pub. The large man was still there. She was surprised when her mother walked right up to him, slapped him on the back and said, "Well, hello there, Rubeus! It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?!"

The giant looked up, startled, but he smiled and laughed jauntily when he saw Danielle. 

"Hullo ter yer, too. Gawsh… Danielle Morgan. It has been a long time! How 'ave ya been?"

"Oh, I've been doing pretty well. You remember my daughter Anna, don't you?" Danielle said, slinging her arm around Anna. Anna smiled. 

"Ah, yes. Hullo there, Anna. Ya prolly don' remember me, eh?"

"No, I don't, sorry," Anna said quietly, looking down at the floor.

"This is Rubeus Hagrid. He and I are old friends. He's the game keeper at Hogwarts. We've kept in touch ever since I graduated."

"Yeh, last time I saw ya, you were just a lil' thing, about two er three years old."

Anna smiled again, not knowing what else she could say. She stuck her hand out and said in her sweet American accent, "Well, it's been a pleasure to have met you, Mr. Hagrid." His huge hand completely engulfed Anna's as he shook it very violently. Anna figured this was about as gently as this man could shake a hand, so she just smiled back, rubbing her shoulder a bit. 

"Please, just Hagrid."

"Well, Hagrid, then."

Anna smiled and sat down on a bar stool a seat down from Hagrid, and her mother sat between them. 

"'Ello, Miss Morgan," the bartender said to her. 

"Hello, Tom, how have you been?" She remembered him very well. Whenever they were passing through he'd give her and Xavier free chocolate frogs. He started their enormous collection of the little trading cards inside the chocolate. Together, she and Xavier had almost the whole collection. 

"What can I git you, Anna?" Tom asked in his sweet cockney accent.

"Oh, I'll just have some hot tea, please. It's been so long since I've had that."

"Alrigh', one 'ot tea, coming righ' up!"

As Tom prepared her drink she looked around the tiny pub. It was empty except for the four of them. She heard Hagrid ask her mother some thing about Xavier. Anna looked away quickly, but heard her mother reply that we hadn't heard from him since the day he left.She and Hagrid continued to talk about how things had been in London since they'd left. 

"Lucius Malfoy has a boy that'll be in the fifth year with Anna.Name's Draco. Evil lil' thin', he is. I 'spect he'll turn out same as his father. No offense, er anythin'."

"Oh, none taken, Rubeus. I'm trying to keep Anna as far away from that sort of thing as possible. She didn't want to come back here. It was hard for me, too, but I did the right thing, didn't I? I mean, we've got to face it some time. She's fifteen now. I think she's old enough, don't you?"

"Yer righ', Danielle. Ya can' keep runnin' forever."

"Thank you, Rubeus. That makes me feel better. Promise me you'll watch over her this year, will you?"

"I promise. You've got me word. Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione 'ave bin comin' down ter me hut ever since they were first years. It'd be a pleasure for Anna ter come, too."

"I'm not sure if she'll be making friends with Harry Potter," said Danielle, quietly. Anna heard loud and clear, though, and winced at Harry's name. "You know, after everything that's happened with her—"

"Anna?" She jerked out of the conversation. "Anna, 'ere's your tea." 

"Wha'? Oh, thank you, Tom."

"And, just for old time's sake…" he trailed off reaching underneath the counter, "'ow about a choc'late frog?"

"Oh, thank you so much, Tom. How much do I owe you?"

"This is on the 'ouse, Anna. It's enough just to see you and your mum again."

Anna sipped her tea and tried her hardest not to listen to Hagrid's and her mother's conversation. She was relieved when Danielle finally got up.

"Well, it certainly has been nice to talk to you again, Rubeus, and thank you for the drinks, Tom. We must be going, now, though. I promised Anna some ice cream at Florean's. She wasn't feeling good earlier."

Anna winked at Tom and waved good-bye to Hagrid and she and her mother walked through the archway into Diagon Alley.

They sat at a small table under a large magenta umbrella. They both ordered chocolate ice cream with white chocolate fudge dribbled over the top. 

"I received a letter from Hogwarts a couple days ago," said Danielle as they ate their ice cream.

"What did it say? Why didn't you tell me?" asked Anna, shocked.

"You knew it came. It was the letter that had your supply list and the letter welcoming you to Hogwarts. There was another part to it. It was to me, saying that you would be in Gryffindor—"

"What? What's that?"

"Oh," Danielle laughed. "Gryffindor is one of the four houses at Hogwarts. There's that one, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Your father and I were in Slytherin."

"Mother, please don't talk about him…" Anna said through semi-clenched teeth staring down at her ice cream.

"I'm sorry, Anna, but you've got to know about him. He _is_ your father, no matter what's he's become. Without him, you wouldn't be here."

"I know, I know. But when I enroll in Hogwarts tomorrow and the headmaster says my name, I'm going to be Anna _Morgan_, not Riddle. That way I won't get talked about. I'd actually like to have friends here, like the ones I had in America. I don't want Harry Potter to duck for cover every time he sees me coming."

"Oh, speaking of him, he's also in Gryffindor."

"Oh, God, are you serious?"

"Anna, calm down," said Danielle, putting her hand over Anna's. "It'll be fine. The Gryffindor house has been known to produce the best good witches and wizards. You can't go wrong. Just be sure you make friends with the right people."

"Alright, alright," sighed Anna. 

"I've only one more question, then I'll let you finish your ice cream in peace.

"Okay…"

"Have you decided what you're going to name your owl yet?"

"Oh, yes," said Anna, shaking her head. She was relieved it wasn't another question about her father. "I'm going to name her January."

"January? Why?"

"'Cause she is white, like snow in January."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense then."

They finished their ice cream without much conversation, went back to the pub for some dinner, and then to the inn for the night. 

Anna was very nervous, but also quite excited as she fell asleep that night. There was no turning back now. 


	3. Default Chapter

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

_T_

he next morning was fairly uneventful. After a small bit of confusion, they made it to King's Cross Station right on time. Once Danielle figured out how to use a Muggle telephone, they phoned a local cab company and had them send a cab to the record store right beside the Leaky Cauldron. The train left at 11:00 and they got to the station at 10:33, which made Anna smile. 

They quickly went through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. A very regal scarlet steam engine stood there with many people milling about, pushing carts and some even carrying cages with owls of all kinds, hooting to one another. Some of the students had even changed into their Hogwarts robes already. 

Anna looked around for anyone she might recognize. Right away she spotted the silver-blond headed kid. He was standing with his arms crossed, and that same sneer on his face. He seemed to think he was so much better than everyone else around him. Two very large boys stood behind him. They looked like bodyguards, but Anna assumed they must be friends since no one else was really near them. 

Then she saw Harry Potter and the two other people from her dream. Also with them were three others. Two tall, muscular boys who looked about 16 or 17 and a shorter girl in curly pig tails. The two boys were identical, and all three of them had the same bright red hair as the boy from Anna's dream.

"Well, here we are," said Danielle, breaking Anna's thought. "Oh, it seems like just last week that it was me passing through that barrier, excited about going back to school, my home away from home. You'll love it there, Anna, trust me. That magic school in America is _nothing_ compared to Hogwarts."

"I know, mum, and I am excited, really," said Anna, putting on her British accent. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"I know, sweetie, I know," said Danielle, pushing Anna's hair out of her face and pulling her into a tight one armed hug. "It'll be alright. You can write to me if you need anything. That is why I gave you an owl, you know."

"Okay," sighed Anna, smiling a bit. She couldn't help but trust her mother. After all, her mom was all she really had left. "You've got to promise to write to me, too, okay?" asked Anna, looking up at her mother. 

"I promise," said Danielle, kissing Anna on the forehead.

The train whistle blew, making everyone on the platform jump. 

"Well, run along, now. You don't want to miss the train. Have fun! Drop me an owl a.s.a.p.!" Danielle called out, waving at her daughter and she pulled her trunk towards the train. 

A boy in dread locks helped Anna pull her trunk up into the train. He introduced himself as Lee Jordan but didn't stick around for long. Anna walked down the isle way of the train, searching for an empty compartment. She finally found one, near the back of the car, pulled her trunk and cage in and slid the door shut behind her. 

Anna sat down by the window with January's cage on her lap.

"How'd you like to be my new best friend, January?" Anna asked the owl, still speaking in a British tongue. January cooed affectionately. "You can teach me to fly and we'll soar away from Hogwarts, over the clouds, and back to my home in America. You'd love it there, it's absolutely wonder—"

The door to the compartment slid open suddenly and in walked Harry Potter himself, talking so animatedly to his friends that he didn't even notice Anna sitting there.

"Oh, hello," he said smiling. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm Harry Potter, this is Hermione Granger," he gestured towards the girl, "and Ron Weasley. This is our usual compartment. You don't mind if we sit here, do you?" 

"Oh, no, go ahead, I'll leave," Anna said, almost forgetting her accent. She stood up to get her trunk. 

"You can sit with us if you'd like," said Hermione. "Harry didn't mean that you had to leave! Please, sit with us, we'd love the new company."

"Oh, ok, thank you," smiled Anna, sitting back down.

"What's your name? You're new around here, aren't you?" asked Ron.

"Yes. My name is Anna Morgan. I used to live here, but my family moved to America when I was seven. We just moved back a couple days ago.I heard Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in the world," she said, turning the subject away from herself.

"Oh, it is. We love it there," said Hermione. "The teachers are wonderful; I'm at the top of all of my classes."

"She's a know-it-all, honestly," laughed Harry playfully. 

Anna smiled. It felt so strange to be sitting there with Harry Potter. _Harry Potter_. It just didn't all click together for some reason.

As the train began moving, the compartment door slid open again. This time it was the two other boys who were standing outside the train with Harry and his friends. 

"Hello, there!" one said. 

"Made a new friend, have ya, Ron?" the other asked, smiling at Anna.

"Yes, actually, is that so surprising?" said Ron playfully. "These are my two idiot brothers, Fred and George," Ron said to Anna. Each waved at his name. "This is Anna Morgan," back to the twins. "She's from America. She's in… actually, you never told us what year you're in."

"Oh, sorry. I'm in the fifth year," said Anna.

"Just an ickle fifth year… tut, tut, tut," joked George, shaking his head. "Too bad you can't be seventh with us. Seventh years have all the fun."

"Oh, I believe I'll be having fun, thank you very much," Anna laughed. 

"You've got a jolly good accent for an American," said Fred, winking at Anna. 

"Well, that's because I'm a jolly ol' Londoner," Anna said, in the purest cockney that she could manage. She winked playfully back at Fred. "I moved to America when I was eight."

"Jolly well, jolly well," laughed Fred.

"Well, we'll be going now. Just wanted to pop by and say hello. See you later!" said George, leaving the compartment.

"Cheerio!" said Fred, winking again and waving. Anna waved back and smiled, deciding one wink was enough for today.

"You're in the fifth year?" asked Harry.

Anna nodded. She was feeling more comfortable now.

"That's good. That's the same as us."

"Do you know what house you'll be in?" asked Ron.

"Oh, I already got a letter telling me I'd be in Gryffindor."

"Even better!" laughed Harry. 

"Why is that?" Anna asked, chuckling at his out burst.

"Because we're in Gryffindor!" cut in Ron.

"Awesome!" said Anna, accidentally using the American word.

"Awesome… that's a new one," said Hermione. "I like it." She even laughed a bit, too.

The four talked like old friends, gabbing over anything they could think of. Anna watched the scenery from the train window. She noticed how it grew scrubbier by the minute. In the middle of the train ride, a rather tubby witch pushing a food cart came by. They all bought a glass of butter beer, some cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. Anna swapped some of the collector's cards with Ron. Not that he had any she didn't already have. 

By the time they reached the station in Hogsmeade, Anna was about to burst with excitement. She wasn't even at school yet and she'd made friends. And with Harry Potter, no less. She was sure these were the "right people" her mother had been talking about. 

"Where is it? I heard it's a castle! Can you see it from here?" Anna was standing on her tippy toes and jumping up and down trying to get a glimpse of Hogwarts.

Harry put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, Anna! You can't see it from here. We have to ride in little carriages to get there." 

"Oh," Anna laughed. "Sorry for making such a fuss about it, then. I'm just so excited!" Anna clenched her fist and jumped up again.

"Don't worry about it, we were just as excited as you are, believe me," laughed Ron.

The four of them found a carriage. Anna kept her nose pressed against the window, waiting for her first view of the castle.

Right as they were about the come up to it, Harry put his hands over Anna eyes.

"Oo! Not fair, not fair!" she effortlessly pulled his hands away and saw Hogwarts in all its glory. The two magnificent towers, all the flying buttresses and the windows! Oh, my, the windows! All that escaped Anna was a very weak, "Wow…" 

The other three just laughed, remembering having the same reaction.

Anna jumped out of the carriage as they pulled up to the huge stone steps. The massive oak doors at the top flew open, and they had to run to keep up with Anna. As she neared the top, she slowed down to a walk, with her hands clasped over her chest. Another "Wow," leaked out of her as they walked into the Great Hall. Anna pointed up at the ceiling, but before she could say anything Hermione answered her question.

"It's bewitched. It looks just like the sky outside."

"Oh, awesome," Anna said, completely in awe.

They took their seats at a table under a very large scarlet and gold flag, the Gryffindor table. They sat down next to Fred and George, and Anna was also introduced to Ron's sister Ginny, the pigtailed girl that was with them earlier. She is only in the fourth year. 

Suddenly Anna saw the silver-blond headed boy standing with his cronies by a table under a green and silver flag. He was wearing his familiar sneer, and smiled even broader when he locked eyes with Anna. She looked away quickly.

"Who is that boy over there?" Anna pointed to him, ducking behind Harry's shoulder. 

"Who?" asked Harry, half way standing up to get a better look.

"That boy with the really light blond hair. He's got two rather large fellows standing by him. Do you see him?"

"Yes, unfortunately," sighed Harry, sitting back down.

"Why, who is it?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, who's she talking about?" asked Hermione.

"Draco Malfoy." Anna recognized that name. Hagrid had been talking about him in the Leaky Cauldron the day before. 

"Oh, ugh," said Hermione in total disgust.

"Who is he?" asked Anna, wondering what the big deal was.

"He's a great bullying git, that's who he is," said Ron, his face almost as contorted as Hermione's.

"Well," started Harry, "for one, he's in Slytherin. Their lot isn't exactly fond of us. Like wise for our lot. For two, ever since we got here, he's been nothing but a bother. Making his snide little remarks, with all his many followers behind him. Thinks he's Lord Voldemort or something."

Ron cringed. "Harry…" 

"Oh, sorry, Ron," said Harry.

"It's alright, just please, stop. You know I hate when you do that."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry!"

"Why do you hate it so much? I mean, I know everyone is scared of him and everything, but I mean, Harry has a right to say the name doesn't he?" asked Anna. "I mean, after all he's been through."

"Yes, we know," said Hermione, "but last year, with You-Know-Who rising up again, it just is worse, I guess." 

Anna nodded sympathetically. What else could she do?

"You heard what happened, didn't you?" Hermione continued. "It was all over the Daily Prophet."

"Yeah, I remember reading about it the day after term ended actually."

"Dumbledore still hasn't convinced everyone at the Ministry that You-Know-Who is back in full power. I don't think even he knows anymore. Over the whole summer not a thing happened, so maybe he didn't. But like I said, who knows. If Dumbledore doesn't, it's for sure that no one else does."

The hall fell silent and a very stern looking witch placed a stool in the front of the hall and then sat a very ragged old wizard's hat on it. Just as Anna was about to lose interest, the hat began to sing. She couldn't understand everything that it said. The just of it, however, was like a story, about the four witches and wizards that founded Hogwarts and the four different houses. As soon as it finished it became a plain old hat again.

"What was that?" Anna whispered to Hermione.

"The sorting hat. Every year it has a different song. Now all the first years," Hermione pointed to a row of young children that Anna hadn't even noticed, "will sit on the stool, put the hat on their head, and it will tell them what house they are supposed to be in."

"Oh, I get it. That's very interesting. At my old school we just slept with our year. The girls with the girls and the boys with the boys of course. We didn't have houses, though."

Hermione just shrugged.

The sorting was a long and rather tedious ceremony. Each table clapped when someone was accepted into their house.

After the sorting everyone cheered very wildly. The hall became quiet again, this time very abruptly. Everyone's head turned to look up at a high table. Anna followed suit. 

A tall, thin wizard in purple robes studded with bright yellow stars stood with his hand in the air as though he were stopping traffic. 

"That's Dumbledore," Hermione whispered in Anna's ear.

"I know, I've read about him, too," she whispered back. 

Dumbledore's long white hair nearly hit the floor, and the same with his beard. He had on the smallest spectacles, in the shape of half moons, it seemed. Behind them Anna could see his brilliant blue eyes, even from where she was sitting. They twinkled with more magic than Anna thought there could be in the whole school. Once he knew that he had everyone's attention he began speaking.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" he said very cheerfully. He opened his arms wide as though he were embracing everyone in the room. "Welcome to a new and exciting year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Will you all please stand and join me in singing the school song. Pick any tune you like!" The old wizard pointed his wand into the air and little gold sparks arranged themselves into words. 

"Any tune?" Anna asked, quite puzzled.

"Any tune," said Ron.

Anna chose the death march. She sang deep and slow, and was surprised when she heard Fred and George singing to the same tune. They all just laughed and sang even louder. 

The three were the last to finish with Dumbledore following along with his wand. When they were finally done, he clapped with the rest of the school. 

"Bravo, bravo!" he cheered. "I have a few announcements before we begin the feast. First of all, I would like to welcome all the first years to Hogwarts." Everyone clapped again. "And," he continued, yelling over the applause. When it stopped he went on, "I would also like to welcome Miss Anna Morgan. If you would please stand up, Anna."

Anna blushed, and with the group's encouragement, stood up smiling and waved. 

The hall broke into applause again.

"Thank you, Anna," Dumbledore said, and Anna sat down. "Anna is joining us from America. I trust you will all make her feel right at home. Furthermore, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Mr. Emrick Giovanni." More applause. "I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest on the edge of the grounds, is well, forbidden. And, to conclude, as I don't want to keep you from your feast any longer than I have to, there will be a curfew this term. You must be in your common rooms by 10 o' clock each night." Instead of applause, there were moans and groans from every corner of the room. "That will be enough," said Dumbledore, though not at all angrily. "The curfew is to your benefit, due to our rather unfortunate events that occurred last term. And now, without any further adieu, let the feast begin!"

Anna looked down at the table as many wonderful foods of all kinds appeared. She filled her plate up with all her favorites and ate heartily. The group chatted about the new term and the new curfew ("I bet George and I'll break it before the second night!").

Once everyone had finished Dumbledore reminded them of the curfew and then sent them up to their common rooms for the night. 

They walked up the stairs to the portrait, laughing at Anna as she fell through the trick step they _accidentally_ forgot to mention.They climbed through the portrait hole and grabbed seven red armchairs in front of the fire. 

They all talked about the next day and told Anna about the teachers.

"Wait till we have potions, Anna. Ugh, you'll hate it," said Ron, looking even more disgusted than he had about Draco Malfoy.

"Why?" Anna asked. "Potions has always been one of my favorite classes."

"Not this year. We have the worst teacher. Snape." He cringed as though saying the name made his skin crawl. "He's a great, greasy slime ball, and that's being nice about it."

Anna laughed. "Oh, I can't wait," she said very sarcastically. 

They stayed up till almost midnight talking. When they finally went up to their dorms, Anna laid in her four poster and just smiled to herself. 

This day couldn't have been more perfect, she thought, and let herself fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Disturbing Behaviors

Chapter Four:

Chapter Four:

Disturbing Behaviors

_H_

ermione woke Anna up very early the next morning

"We've got to go down for breakfast. We get our schedules today."

"Oh! Ok," said Anna, jumping out of bed. She changed out of her nightclothes, and into her Hogwarts robes, stuffed her wand into the inside pocket, grabbed her bag, and hurried to meet the rest of the gang in the common room. Together they went down the marble staircase, laughing as they all jumped the trick step together, and sat down to breakfast in the great hall. Right as the food appeared on the table, the stern witch from the sorting ceremony walked up to the table with a stack of papers. 

"Schedules," Hermione said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

As the witch handed Anna her schedule, she leaned over her and said, "Hello, I'm Professor McGonagall. I am your transfiguration teacher as well as the head of your house. Feel free to come to me if you need anything. I'm sure one of your friends here will direct you to my office." She finished handing out schedules and then went up to the high table with the other teachers. 

"Let me see yours, Hermione," said Anna, taking Hermione's out of her hand. 

"Yeah, we have all the same classes!" squealed Anna. 

"Of course, we do," laughed Hermione, taking her schedule back. "All the fifth year Gryffindors have the same classes."

"Except," Harry started, "for Wednesdays when we have double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs—"

"And Fridays when we have double potions with the Slytherins! Again? Oh, blimey," yelled Ron, slapping his hand to his forehead and shaking his head wearily. 

"Snape is head of the Slytherin house and always plays favorites with them," said Hermione. "You'd think Ron'd be used to it by now."

"Is it so wrong to hope?" asked Ron, clinching his fists and looking up at the ceiling longingly. 

"No," Hermione laughed. "I suppose not."

After breakfast they had transfiguration from nine to ten, then charms from ten to eleven. 

"At least we don't have Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins this year," said Harry as they walked down the steps of the castle and down the grassy hill to a little hut by the Forbidden Forest. 

"Who's the teacher for this class?" asked Anna.

"Oh, Hagrid. He's great—"

"Yes, I know him. Him and my mum were good friends when she went to school here. We talked to him in the Leaky Cauldron. He never mentioned that he was a teacher, though."

"He's my favorite," said Harry."Well, except for last year. The whole episode with the blast ended skrewts, that was murder."

"Almost literally," joked Ron. Anna smiled.

"'Ello, there Harry!" Hagrid called as he spotted them. He waved one of his massive hands in the air. 

"Hello!" Harry called back. They all waved back to him.

"Who've yeh got there?" He asked, squinting his eyes up at them. "Oh, Anna! Don' know how I coulda missed ya! I see ya made friends with Harry here. That's good, very good." He turned his attention away from the four. "Gather round, class, gather round!"

After a class full of review (Or so Anna's new friends said. Some of the stuff Hagrid said, she had never heard before.) they headed back up to the castle for lunch. 

The next day ran just as smoothly as the previous one. At lunch on Wednesday the boy named Draco Malfoy swaggered his way over to the Gryffindor table with his two bodyguard-like friends behind him. 

"Great…" sighed Fred when he spotted the silver blond haired boy. "Just what we need."

"You guys have fun," laughed George, pushing his chair away from the table and getting up. "We've got better things to do than talk to Malfoy."

As Draco came closer to the table Ron clenched his fists and his ears got pink on the top. Anna swore she saw a bit of steam escape his ears as well. 

"Well, if it isn't Anna Morgan…" said Draco, coming face to face with Anna, cracking his knuckles, his now trademark sneer still on his face. "I've heard a lot about you from my father. You may have heard of him as well. Lucius Malfoy is his name." Anna cringed, wondering what he could know. "By the way, I'm Draco Malfoy," he said, extending his hand. Anna glanced at Harry, whose jaw was hanging open in shock. She then extended her own hand and shook Draco's. She felt Harry tense beside her, but he relaxed when nothing happened.

"Well, you already know my name," said Anna, smiling politely, "but what have you heard about me?"

"Time shall tell," Draco whispered. He winked so that only Anna could see, turned on his heel, and strode away back to the Slytherin table.

"What were you guys talking about?" Anna asked, turning back to her Gryffindor friends. "Draco seems very nice." Anna cut into the ham sitting in front of her.

"That was very odd," said Hermione shaking her head. "He's always been so cruel to us. I wonder what made him think to be different to you."

"Yeah, he's never nice to any of the Gryffindors, especially us," said Harry, taking his own piece of ham. 

"Guess I'm lucky," Anna said smiling. 

They finished the rest of their lunch without saying much and then went off to the green houses for double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

Anna found the Hufflepuff crowd to be one of her least favorites. They were very skittish, dropping pots and other things of the like. They also whispered a lot. Anna heard her name several times during the class. She was thankful when the class was over.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Anna walked back up to the castle without saying a word. Anna was worried about what they might be thinking, so she decided to break the silence.

"What class do we have next, Harry?" Anna asked,

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Harry."Should be rather interesting."

"Why is that? 'Cause of the new teacher?" asked Anna.

"Not only that, but he is the fifth new teacher that we've had. A new one every year," answered Hermione.

"A new one every year?" asked Anna incredulously. "Why?"

"Because every one of them has turned out to be a screw up," said Ron. "The first year we had Professor Qurriell and he was sporting You-Know-Who under his turban."

"Oh, I hear about that one," said Anna. 

"The second year we had Gilderoy Lockhart," continued Ron. "You know, the author?" Anna nodded. "Well, he turned out to be a fraud."

"Hm, that's weird."

"It gets weirder," laughed Harry. "The third year we had Professor Lupin. He's the best one we've had so far. He was friends with my dad and Sir— er—and his friends when they were in school."

"What happened to him?" Anna asked.

"Oh, he turned out to be a werewolf," said Harry as though it were normal.

"A werewolf!?" gasped Anna.

"Yep," laughed Harry.

"What about last year?" she asked.

"Professor Moody. A retired Auror from our Ministry. Only, it wasn't him. It was an escaped Death-Eater using the Poly-juice potion. It was really quite a long story. They ended up catching him with the Marauder's Map and the Veritaserum potion."

"Oh," said Anna. She knew about everything except for that map. "What is the Marauder's Map?" she asked. 

"Oh, remind and I'll show it to you sometime."

They walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and took four empty seats in the back row. Professor Drath seemed to be a little nervous. He was ringing his hands and pacing back and forth in front of the classroom. As the rest of the class came in, his shut the door. He seemed to be bit more relaxed.

"Dumbledore and I have spoken," he began in an American accent, "and since Alastor Moody, or his double rather, saw fit to teach you the unforgivable curses, we see fit to continue that study." He paused as the class broke into whispers, looking around at one another. "Since we have no spiders or other specimens to work these curses on, we will be experimenting on one another." More loud whispers. "To refresh your memories, I will demonstrate each curse. The three curses are Imperius, Cruciatus, and Avada Kedavra. Harry Potter," Drath smirked, "I believe you are rather familiar with all three of these curses, are you not?"

Harry gulped. "Yes, Professor, I am, but—"

"Please assist me then," said Drath, his smirk twisting into an ominous smile. 

Harry reluctantly stood up and walked to the front of the class. 

"I am told," Drath began, raising his wand, "that you were one of the few that was able to fight the Imperius Curse." Harry nodded weakly. "Prove it," Drath said quickly and before Harry could object, the professor had already said "_Imperio!_" 

Drath pulled out a stool from behind his desk. He seemed to be sending telepathic messages to Harry because his eyes were squinted intensely. 

Harry's bright green eyes looked empty. He walked over to the chair hesitantly, his face screwed up as well. He was fighting it, Anna could tell. Harry took a few more steps toward the stool, and finally let out a sigh and his face relaxed. He'd broken it.

"Very well done, Potter, extremely well," said Drath. "Now for the harder curses." 

Harry drew back as Drath shouted "_Crucio!_" 

Anna gasped as Harry limply flung to the floor and twisted and contorted about, a look of unimaginable pain on his face. 

"STOP!" Anna yelled, and several others joined in, getting quite worried. They'd never seen these curses performed on people. 

Drath released the curse. Harry sat up looking exhausted. 

"Why did you do that?" Harry yelled, trying to stand up. 

"I was merely giving a lesson, Harry," Drath said innocently, tapping his wand on the palm of his hand. 

"That's no way to teach! Maybe we should try that one on you, Professor Drath! Have you ever had that done to you before? Do you know what it's like?" Harry's anger seemed to be giving him the strength to stand up and walk towards Drath.

"Actually, Harry, I do," Drath said, as if there were no importance to the issue. Harry just shot him an incredulous look, and rubbed the back of his neck. "There is one curse left. _Avada Kedavra_, the killing curse." A shiver ran through the class. "I believe Mr. Potter is most familiar with this one," said Drath. He walked up to Harry with his hands behind his back, though he was still clutching his wand. "Brings back memories, doesn't it, Harry?" Drath hissed menacingly. Harry glared at him. "Can you still hear her screaming, Harry? In the middle of the night, pleading, trying to save you?" Harry clenched his fists, his face red with fury. "It was your fault, you know." Drath continued, circling Harry. "If she hadn't been trying to save you, she probably would have been spared." 

Anna stood up, as well as Hermione and Ron. 

Drath continued whispering to Harry. From out of nowhere, Harry turned around and punched Drath right across the face. The class gasped, even a few screamed, but Anna, Hermione and Ron ran forward to Harry. 

Drath fell, and Harry backed away, rubbing his knuckles. The whole class was on its feet, teetering over their desks trying to see the professor. Drath sat up clutching his face. 

Just then the door suddenly banged open and in walked Snape, looking quite shook up. 

"What's all this noise?" he yelled. "I can hear you all the way in the dungeons!" His eyes fell upon Drath, whose nose had started to bleed a bit. "Drath! What on earth happened?"

"Him," Drath pointed up to Harry who was still massaging his hand. "He—he punched me. He was helping me demonstrate a lesson and he just hauled off and punched me, for no reason at all."

"NO REASON?!" yelled Ron, livid. "We heard what you were saying to him, Professor, we're not deaf!" 

Drath turned to Snape. "I don't know what he's talking about, Severus."

"I can't believe you!" yelled Harry. "Professor Snape, he was—he was saying that my mum dieing was my fault and a lot more. I didn't mean to hit him, it was—it was an impulse, I guess."

"Impulse or not, Potter, come with me," said Snape, but he didn't look at all mad. 

Harry followed him into the hall. He didn't have to ask where they were going. They started off for Dumbledore's office when Snape shocked him by actually talking to him.

"Listen, Potter—"

"I know, Professor, I know. I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it." Harry cut in.

"Actually, I was going to say that you did the right thing. I wasn't too fond of your father, but your mother and I were friends. Drath has no right to say those things to you, or any one for that matter. Just watch out for him, alright? Oh, I shouldn't be telling you this, and I can't believe I am," said Snape, rolling his eyes, "but I don't like him. Just be careful." 

Harry was shocked. Why was Snape telling him this? He thought Snape hated him, and here he was warning him and giving him his own personal opinion. 

"I still think you should go in and talk to Dumbledore anyway. I'm sure he'd like to hear about this. Ice Mice," Snape said to the gargoyle, and as the door opened, he strode away with his usually sneer back in place. Harry chuckled lightly and shook his head. Only the third day of term and he was already in Dumbledore's office. He knocked at Dumbledore's door as he reached the top of the staircase. He was surprised when no one answered. It wasn't like Dumbledore to not be around. He could either sit and wait or go back to class. He opted for the latter. He wanted to go tell his friends about Snape and the other weird things going on. 

**Author's Note: Ya like it so far? It's getting better…hee hee hee! Sorry it's taking me so long to post the new chapters. I got really busy and kinda blocked ::hits self on head:: Ouch… anyway—enjoy and don't forget to review! I love hearing what you guys think, even the flames! Please review!**

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**DISCLAIMER: All these characters belong to J.K. Rowling; Lord knows I'm not that creative! Anna and Emrick Drath belong to Moi! I know I should have put a disclaimer on this story from page one, but, I confess… I forgot, lol. **

  



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